Post Extinction (OLD CONTINUITY, REWRITE IN PROGRESS)
by EmeraldAuthor95
Summary: As far as anyone was aware, Remnant had always been a world of fantasy and wonder, a world where anyone could be anything. The truth is, it was all a design by forces beyond comprehension, in a never-ending war for the universe. Once the horrors of the past return, the only saving-grace they have is three warriors who lived and fought it all before. Rated M for Gore / Swearing.
1. Chapter 1: Epilogue to the Extinction

_Before we begin: In context, this story starts with what would've been Dead Space 4. It runs with the ideas outlined by Ben Wanat, the creative director of Dead Space, though it rapidly spirals away from the post-apocalypse of Dead Space 4. Otherwise, Isaac, Ellie, and Carver wouldn't end up in the RWBY-verse. To recap: Credits to Ben Wanat for Dead Space 4. Due to plot conflicts, some RWBY lore will be different.  
Dead Space Belongs to EA  
RWBY belongs to Roosterteeth  
Let the nightmare begin..._

Ozpin watched the monitors in his office as the streets of Vale rapidly fell to chaos, the living running from the dead. And the dead, chasing the living. He could hear the shivers of the first-year students who'd taken shelter in his office from the abominations that sought to end their lives.

He could hear Professor Port load his weapon, a blunderbuss with axe-blades on the stock. The room had been locked down, but it still wasn't enough. He looked up at a monitor to see the Red Marker, the towering 50-foot monolithic structure that sat at the heart of this nightmare. To his left stood Glynda Goodwitch, his right-hand woman, and fellow instructor at Beacon Academy, she to, could only stare at the cosmic horror that flooded the streets, the little canine faunus Lily Lavender clung to her skirt with one hand, and to her plasma cutter with the other, her dog-ears drooped downward.

The undead mutants the Marker created, which all of Remnant had come to understand were called, _Necromorphs_, raced towards the Red Marker. Ozpin could only guess that this is what Isaac had warned him about, he was disrupted from his thoughts by an urgent contact from another ally, General James Ironwood of the Atlesian military. Ironwood looked disheveled, his armor and clothes badly damaged, likely from the bony blades of the Necromorphs. "Ozpin, it's Ironwood."

"James," Ozpin asked, "how bad is it out there?"

"Really bad, Ozpin, they're all here. And there's way more of them than we anticipated!"

"Are you safe?" Ozpin asked.

"Barely, they don't seem to get within a few meters of the Marker, but I'm stuck here."

That wasn't good. Before their conversation could progress further, the Marker began to pulsate with energy, Ozpin feared what it meant, Ironwood confirmed his fears. "Oh, no... THERE'S TOO MANY OF THEM!" suddenly the Marker let off a blast that turned the screen white, and was visible from the academy, when the screen returned to normal, they found a truly horrific sight.

The Marker was blasting energy into the air that colored the sky orange, picking up Necromorphs all around it, and propelled them into the sky. They could see from the window the monstrosity they were beginning to merge into. Ozpin and Glynda watched as the event unfolded, but their attention was pulled by a slight chant in the background. They turned to find the students muttering the same phrase repeatedly,

_Convergence is here, they will come. Convergence is here, they will come. Convergence is here, they will come._

Ozpin turned back to the window and adjusted his glasses. _Where are you Isaac, we need you now more than ever_, he thought to himself.

Meanwhile:

_Welcome, former CEC engineer Isaac Clarke and Former CEC pilot Ellie Langford. Preparing Mark II Sentinel Suits. Preparation complete. Please Step into the kiosk._

**Before:**

The woman floated in space, silently, her only companion being her slow breathing. The thrusters in her armored suit swiftly propelled her from her ship to the derelict transport vessel. Her objective, in theory, sounded simple, but in practice, it was anything but simple. The plan was to scavenge the transport ship for basic supplies to keep her own ship going, however, every vessel she'd encountered so far had the same problem, all ships were crawling with Necromorphs. It was almost impossible to find a ship that wasn't.

Before she could board the ship, a small creature leaped out from an unseen crevice of the ship, clinging to the hull and silently snarling at her. It had the twisted face and the arms and legs of a human infant, but any shred of humanity it had was long dead. Three barbed tentacles extended from it's back. The woman drew her weapon, a high-powered industrial plasma-cutter. Cautiously using her jets to dodge the projectiles it launched at her, she lined the cutter's three laser sights at the Lurker's tentacles, pulling the trigger to send a beam of plasma hurtling towards it. She'd managed to kill it with two well-placed shots.

She quickly boarded the ship. The barely-functioning systems kicked in and flooded the airlock chamber with oxygen. She moved fast, not wishing to be on the decaying vessel any longer than necessary. She exited the airlock and into a room where the only thing worse the the intense darkness was the dead silence.

She entered the first corridor, raising her weapon to provide light to pierce the dark. The walls of the rusted vessel were coated with dried blood and viscera, written in repeating patterns were the words, _Abandoned, forsaken, lost in the dark, the devils are in the vents, It's all over_. Although she hadn't been present for the crew's demise, she knew that the crew did this themselves, minds shattering as hope disappeared, insanity and paranoia gripping the hearts of the living. Violent murder and demented chaos following suit. Then the Necromorphs reanimated the dead, turning against them, slaughtering what was left in a one-sided butchering.

She encountered several slasher Necromorphs along the way, these common ones were largely human in appearance, However their arms had contorted above their heads unnaturally, with foot-long blades of bone extending from their palms. Their necks had slightly extended, their jaws stretched open to show razor-sharp teeth. There was a massive rip in their stomachs, with two little arms extending from them, their internal organs visibly turned to muscle. Their skin was darkly decayed and caked with blood. The only way to defeat any Necromorph, however, was to dismember them, she'd fallen into a routine for fighting them.

She'd just about finished her hunt and had returned to the airlock when she heard the clank of a vent opening. She turned to face the sound, plasma cutter raised. The ammo counter glowed with the number of six. Six shots left, and the corridor was quiet. For undead abominations that roared constantly, they were oddly quiet when they wanted to be. For a few seconds, the only sound she could hear was her breathing. When those seconds ended, one last slasher made itself known with a roar.

She wasted no time dismembering the monster, cutting of one of its blades and using her kinesis module to catch the blade and shoot it back, impaling the beast into the wall. With the last of her tasks complete, she exited the airlock and returned to her own ship.

Once the airlock compressed and she could get back into her vessel, she put the sack of scrap aside and stepped over to the adjacent suit kiosk across from the airlock. Upon entering the kiosk's proximity, a holographic screen appeared, giving her a series of options. She selected the 'remove suit' option. The screen retracted and a door opened, behind the door was the outline of a person, surrounded by several mechanical arms. She ducked into the kiosk, turning around as she did. the lined herself up with the outline, she could feel the miniature arms latching onto her suit, the doors shut, then their was a flash of bright light.

When the doors opened she stepped out, wearing her normal outfit, a red short-sleeve top with long cargo-pants and a pair of work boots. Her brown hair was tied into a bun behind her head. She picked up the bag of scrap, and went for her ship's makeshift "kitchen".

Ellie Langford had been surviving through the end of civilization for, if her estimates were correct, six months. Six months since monsters the size of moons, the ultimate end of the Necromophs, destroyed most of the human race. Now, as far as she was aware, there were only scavengers living off the bones of the dead. Six months of being mostly alone. She had met other scavengers before, but those meetings rarely ended well. Her ship was relatively small, with two decks. On the lower deck were the engine room, crew (her) quarters, restroom facilities, and R&R room. On the Upper deck sat the helm, lab/workstation, kitchen/dining area, armory, and suit storage. The ship was meant to be crewed by more than one, but Ellie had managed so far.

With few walls to separate the rooms, Ellie had no trouble finding her way to the kitchen area. She threw the bag down onto the dining table and opened a cupboard hanging off the wall. She rifled through it until her hand wrapped around her prize, a month old (she hoped) package of instant noodles she found on an abandoned Earth-Gov lunar colony. She put some filtered water through a coffee machine, opening the noodle package, and placing it in a bowl. Finally pouring hot water into the bowl, she let it seep while she inspected her loot.

Inside the sack she'd brought with her was a handful of electrical devices, the only noteworthy device being a power-node she'd found. Ellie stood up and retrieved her bowl of noodles, heading for the bridge of her ship. She put herself down in the pilot's seat, resting her feet on the main console. She'd only taken a bite of the semi-stale noodles before a light on the secondary control panel lit up and started beeping.  
She stared at it for a second, trying to remember what that was for, before deciding that if she couldn't remember what it was for, it could probably wait.

Ellie moved her right leg, and with the back of her boot's heel, kicked the panel, causing it to stop blinking and beeping. She then just went back to her food, not thinking about the meaning of the blinking light.

Ignoring that light, however, proved to be a mistake, the circuit board the light was connected to monitored the engine room, the light signified danger in the vessel's ShockPoint drive. While she ate, the engine began to break down, oil leaked into the engine's electric circuits, catching on fire, and engulfing the engine room. Ellie continued to eat her noodles until the ships alarms started to scream like the furies at her, an artificial voice called out; "Fire in the engine room," on repeat.

Ellie got on her feet, grabbing the fire extinguisher and ran to the engine room fast enough to practically be flying. But when she arrived, the damage had been done. She managed to put most of the fire out with enough time to hear the automated voice say, "Engine combustion imminent. All crew evacuate."

She looked to the engine to see it falling apart. Rusted metal pipes burst, blue streams energy cackled around the room. Ellie ran back to her suit kiosk, applying her suit, the once pristine-white fabric of the EVA suit had been stained with blood and oil. Ellie had also taken to attaching parts of other suits to replace unfixable parts of it. Now it was a Frankenstein of different suit parts, such as the copper-colored armor shingles from an engineering suit she attached.

Ellie grabbed as many med-kits and plasma clips as she could carry. She picked up her Plasma Cutter and quickly jumped to the airlock. She heard an explosion from somewhere on the lower deck, and jettisoned herself into space. She rocketed toward the nearest ghost-ship, only slowing down once she'd gotten close enough to the airlock. She flew into it and punched the close button. She turned around with enough time left to see her ship explode in a ball of fire and twisted metal.

She wasted no time getting back on her feet, she was stuck on a new ship, likely also crawling with Necromorphs, her old ship exploded, and there was no chance of rescue. She needed to clear this ship out, and hopefully, get it working. She hopped to her feet and proceeded into the ship. Like the last abandoned vessel she scavenged, the walls were coated with blood and guts. However, this time, the lights seemed to work, but the silence was tense. She could hear every scrap of metal that hit the floor around her.

She rounded a corner and was surprised to find an already dead slasher strewn across the floor. Upon inspection, she found that its injuries were fresh. Ellie immediately knew what caused them, there were other scavengers on board. Next to the corpse, Ellie found a Force Gun, a weapon meant more to stun enemies, and knock them flat on there asses, she picked it up, knowing she'd need it in a pinch.

She kept her plasma cutter raised, anticipating an attack from anywhere. She arrived at the engine room and could hear the sounds of chatter. She'd found the the scavengers.

The scavengers had arrived in the system only minutes earlier, and had deployed onto the ghost-ship almost as fast as they had arrived. like Ellie, they looked for materials to maintain their ship, but unlike Ellie, they needed more than that. They to had dealt with rough encounters with scavengers, but meetings tended to go differently for them. The two scavengers in the engine room were merely chatting amongst themselves before Ellie found them. "So I hear that they finally managed to replace the fuel cell on the _Star-Bound Huntress_?"

"Oh, yeah, the old one happened to be something of a explosive hazard. Thank God they finally managed to fix it." Said the scavenger's partner.

"Still, I'd not want to stay on that ship for very long, it's one of the oldest we've got," replied the first scavenger.

A third scavenger called in over the comm channel. "Ay', you two find anything?"

"Ah, not really?" replied the first scavenger, in an attempt to cover the fact they hadn't focused on their objective.

The scavenger on the comms knew that, "Well maybe if both'a you lil' shits kept on the objective, you would find something!"

Whatever reply the couple had thought of was cut off by Ellie, who knocked them both to the ground with the Force Gun, and proceeded to kick there weapons away. She then kept them down at Cutter-point while she went through their equipment. Upon finding out that the two scavengers hadn't found much, she retrieved her Plasma Cutter and waved it in their faces, demanding to know where their salvage was. "Where's the salvage?" she asked with an angered British accent.

Of course, considering that the scavengers had no salvage, they had no response other than, "We don't have any," which, in cases like this, is the absolute wrong thing to say.

Ellie was irritated enough to beat a better answer from the scavengers, and was seconds away from doing so, however, her chance would be stolen when an object hit her in the back of her helmet hard enough to force it to retract back into her Resource Integration Gear, or RIG, for short. She turned to face her attacker, and was met with a swift and hard metal pipe to her face.

The blow rendered Ellie unconscious, allowing the other two scavengers to get back up, the new arrival handed them their weapons, calling them out, "You two were armed, you can handle the God damn living-dead, but not a single scavenger?!"

"Sorry," the first scavenger defended, "they caught us by surprise."

The third scavenger was unamused, glaring at their companions, they growled, "Pay more attention and maybe you won't get caught with your guard down next time," they paused for a moment, staring at Ellie, "she insane, or just desperate?"

"Is there a difference?" piped up the second scavenger, looking at Ellie as well, "My money's on desperate."

The third scavenger picked her up, carrying her in a fireman's carry, turning to the corridor, and addressed their companions, "Guns up dip shits, we're heading back to the ship, mission's over."

Ellie started to awaken much later, the first thing she noticed was the cooler temperature of the room she was in as a breeze brushed past her arms. The second, more important thing she noticed was that, she was in her casual clothes, her suit had been removed. Her eyes flew open as the memories of the ghost ship came back to her, and how she'd been knocked-out by a scavenger.

Her first instinct was to roll out of the bed she was in, she did, once she got back on her feet, she looked around to find that she wasn't in a prison cell, like she was expecting, instead, the room looked more like a medical lab, with shelves of medical equipment, and a model of the human body on a desk.

Behind the desk, sat another human, calmly typing on a holographic computer screen, The human was a male, seemingly younger than Ellie, with short, dirty-blonde hair and several small scars around his eyes and mouth. He was wearing a semi-dirty medical personnel uniform with a nurse's badge on its shoulder. His eyes were green, and, like most people anymore, were empty. Ellie approached with caution, picking up a stray scalpel.

The nurse, noticing Ellie's slow approach, quickly finished what he was typing, before turning to her abruptly, causing her to freeze up, he just simply smiled. He said, "Hello there, you've been out for quite some time," he glanced at the scalpel in her hands, "I assume you have questions?"

Ellie remained silent. The nurse spoke up, "Well, because it need to be explained, you were brought on board and put into the care of our on-board medical-expert. I'm unsure of how hard Jenkins clocked you, but you've been out for at least 16 hours."

Ellie looked at the nurse skeptically, she asked, "Where the fuck am I, and who the fuck are you?"

The nurse stood silently for a second, then replied, "I am Devin Dooley, I'm a nurse on this ship for an away mission. You found us, and were rendered unconscious. The field workers determined that you hadn't contracted Marker dementia, and brought you on board."

Ellie processed the response, "Hold on, you said, an away mission? away from what?"  
The moment she finished her response, another human entered the conversation, "I see your finally up, I was worried Jenkins had given you irreversible brain damage!"

Ellie turned and the nurse adjusted his gaze to face the middle aged, grey haired woman who had entered the medical lab. She wore a doctor's uniform implying that she was the head doctor on board. The doctor looked between the two of them, "So," she asked, "what were you two on about?"

"She's asking about what we're up to out in deep space," Devin cut in, "and wondering what's going on."

"Ah, I see," the doctor said as she looked toward Ellie, "well, allow me to properly introduce myself," she extended her hand, "hello, I'm Dr. Jillian Schmidt, chief medical officer on board the _USM Dutchess_."

Ellie cautiously shook Dr. Schmidt's hand before asking, "I'm Ellie, Ellie Langford. Dooley said something about an away mission, what exactly did he mean?"

Dr. Schmidt smirked, before asking, "How long do you thing it's been since the fall of the Earth Gov, and humanity?"

Ellie was getting irritated, crossing her arms, she replied, "You're dodging the damn question."

Dr. Schmidt patiently said, "No, I'm not, just take a guess."

Ellie groaned, "Six months, my guess is six months."

Dr. Schmidt Smirked again, "That's actually correct, and in those six months, humanity has been rebuilding, and our job is to supply materials to keep us all going, and bring other survivors home."

Ellie was confused, never in the last six month, with all her encounters with insane survivors, could she see this happening, nor had she found evidence of it either. It seemed to fantastical an outcome for her to believe it could happen. Dr. Schmidt seemed to notice this, she gestured for Ellie to follow her. The two women exited the medical lab, and navigated the corridors of the ship, which Ellie now knew was called the _USM Dutchess_, Until they came up to a steel door. The sign above the door read Bridge. The pair entered to an unusually busy deck. Dr. Schmidt approached an older looking man, somewhere in his 60s, wearing a senior officer uniform, Ellie guessed that this was the captain.

saluted the man, "Captain Ulysses."

"At ease, Doctor," the captain replied, he turned and quickly inspected Ellie, "I take it she's the survivor found during collector-team's mission?"

"Yes sir, this is Ellie Langford." Dr. Schmidt replied jovially.

Ellie looked over Captain Ulysses, his eyes, like most other people, were empty, a consequence of surviving the extinction. She turned towards the massive window looking out towards space. The _USM Dutchess_ was currently in FTL travel, outside everyone could see a swirling, pulsing blue and grey vortex. This was know as ShockSpace, named after the core that made FTL travel possible, the ShockPoint drive.

Ellie found herself staring at the familiar sight until the voice of a nameless pilot called out, "We're approaching the flotilla, and will be de-shocking within the next minute, captain."

Ellie turned back to the captain and Dr. Schmidt, her eyebrow raised. She gestured to the pilot, "The fuck is he talking about?"

Ulysses looked at the good doctor, "Dr. Schmidt, I'd assumed you'd have explained it to them by now, why haven't you?"

Ellie turned her head as Dr. Schmidt plainly said, "Er... I was getting to that."  
The pilot spoke up again, "De-shocking in 3... 2... 1... now!"

Everyone felt the sudden lurch as the _USM Dutchess_ decelerated from ShockSpace back into the realm of human perception. Ellie looked out the window and was stunned to see a flotilla of space ships. However, unlike the many flotillas she'd scavenged in, this on was comprised of fully functioning space craft. There were various shuttles and one-man fighters moving between and docking the bigger more notable vessels. The bigger vessels seemed to be teeming with life, Ellie could see various types of ship ranging from massive planet-crackers she was familiar with from her time in the CEC, to military vessels the likes of which she was only vaguely familiar with.

The same pilot from earlier was communicating over the comms, while Ellie couldn't hear what was being said on the other side, she could damn well hear what the pilot was saying, "USG Spirit of Hope, this is _USM Dutchess_, requesting permission to dock and offload our cargo."

A few seconds passed before anyone said anything.

"Captain, we've been granted permission to dock, approaching _USG Spirit of Hope_ now."

The ship approached a planet-cracker, which Ellie guessed was the _USG Spirit of Hope_. Captain Ulysses spoke up, "Ms. Langford, welcome the Final Flotilla. Humanity's final hope."

Ellie stared blankly at the _USG Spirit of Hope_.

...

"Huh..."


	2. Chapter 2: Reunion

_Well, part 2, isn't this exiting! I know part one hasn't had too many readers, but I'm continuing anyway, because I want to. I said some RWBY lore would change for this fic. Let's get some lore changes in here! I also want to say, that the final flotilla takes heavy inspiration from the Quarian flotilla from Mass Effect, for those of you who were wondering._

Ellie woke up in a bunk that had been given to her upon boarding the _USG Spirit of Hope_. According the Captain Ulysses, all new survivors pass through the medical deck of the respective vessels they're brought to. And most survivors start off on board the _USG Spirit of Hope_. All rescued survivors pass through the medical deck first, and undergo a basic medical inspection. The intention being to find either if the Marker had marked their minds, and to treat any injury sustained in the cold black of space. Her appointment was set for tomorrow 'morning', though morning was objective in space.

The following day Ellie had passed through the medical inspection with a clean bill of health. She was given a key-card, and was told it would get them to most public areas of most ships. Alongside that, she was given a sum of 3000 credits to get her started on board the _USG Spirit of Hope_. Upon entering the main public area of the ship, she was truly impressed. The ship itself had been turned into a space station. Most of the mining equipment inside the Planet-Cracker had been torn out, instead replaced with what Ellie could only describe as makeshift apartment facilities. Complete with a park for the children to play at while their parents worked.

Down the 'street' was what appeared to be a market-place, with stalls selling various food stuffs, from snacks, to street food, to full meals. The smells were conflicting. From the looks of it, all dishes were vegetarian. Though some smelled like meat. There was also a strong stench of alcohol in the air. Figures that someone would build a distillery somewhere. The smells reminded Ellie that she hadn't eaten anything for hours, causing hunger to set in. She stopped by a random food cart and purchased what looked like a falafel. She continued on exploring the ship, until she was interrupted by a, "Excuse me. Miss? Excuse me!"

Ellie turned around to see a woman standing before her, she was about the same height as Ellie, her skin was frighteningly pale, her hair dirty-blonde and tied into a bun, and a pair of reading glasses were on her face. She wore a medical uniform. In her hands was an electronic data pad, which she began typing fast into. Ellie stood puzzled, swallowing a bite from the falafel, she asked, "Can I help you?"

The woman held up the data pad, "Is this you?"

Ellie read the data pad:

-  
**Name: **Ellie Langford  
**Age:** 32  
**Previous Affiliations:** Concordance Extraction Corporation (CEC), EarthGov (Temporary Affiliation)  
**Current Ship of Residence:** USG Spirit of Hope  
**Marker Symptom:** None at the moment  
**Doctor's/Nurse's Notes:** Has had her eye replaced after event on the Titan Sprawl. Has remarkable resistance to Marker influence. Understandably isn't quick to trust people. Isn't nearly as paranoid as other patients I've dealt with. (Dr. J. Schmidt) / She might stab you. Keep sharp objects hidden. (Nurse D. Dooley)

There was a picture of Ellie in the top left-hand corner of the data pad.

"Yeah, that's me."

"I need you to come with me, there's, something on the medical deck I think you might want to see."

Ellie had already been on the medical deck, and no one had mentioned it then, but with nothing else to do, she decided to humor the good doctor. "Uh, can you please clarify what you mean by, _something I want to see_?"

The doctor lady paused as Ellie took another bite of falafel before answering, "Ah, uh, well, do you happen to know a man named Isaac Clarke?"

Ellie choked up on the falafel, coughing it onto the floor. _Holy shit! Isaac's alive? That can't be right! I saw him fall from Tau Volantis' atmosphere, I WATCHED HIM DIE! _She needed confirmation, "Ah... You're absolutely certain the man your talking about is the correct Isaac Clarke, not someone else who uses that name?"

The doctor lady flatly stated, "Yes, I am certain."

That still wasn't confirmation that Isaac was alive. Ellie was not about to let false hope take her. She would find the confirmation that Isaac Clarke was dead or alive right now. She grabbed the doctor lady by the collar, yanking her close to her face. Ellie glared and deadpanned, "Prove it."

The doctor lady remained calm and gestured, "Follow me."

The tram ride back the the medical deck felt longer than it did the first time. Maybe it was because the tram itself was crowded and stuffy, and Ellie was sandwiched tightly between the doctor lady and another random passenger. Or maybe it was the anticipation of finally getting closure on her boyfriend's final fate. She thought back to that horrific night on Tau Volantis, watching Isaac and Carver fall to the surface of that frozen hell, alongside that monster, _the Brethren Moon_, they'd just, by some God-given miracle, killed. She could find no transmission to indicate they were alive, and so flew away crying, thinking they were both dead.

Once they'd finally arrived on the medical deck, the two hurried to the psychiatric wing. Ellie followed the doctor lady to to her office, the door read: _Head Medic_. Ellie sat in front of a desk. A plaque on the desk read, _Dr. Elizabeth Hampton PhD / MD / Head of Surgery._

The now identified Dr. Elizabeth Hampton sat behind the desk, handing Ellie a file labeled /Clarke, Isaac/. She opened it.__

-  
**Name: **Isaac Clarke  
**Age:** 50  
**Previous Affiliations:** Concordance Extraction Corporation (CEC)  
**Current Ship of Residence:** USG Spirit of Hope  
**Current Occupation:** Engineer  
**Marker Symptom:** Marker induced Dementia (Only in presence of Marker signal)(diminished by mental training / anti-dementia medication)  
**Doctor's/Nurse's Notes:** Aside from a case of dementia that only manifests itself in the presence of a Marker signal, Isaac also suffers from depression, occasional insomnia caused by nightmares, and bouts of alcoholism, however, the latter will be hard to notice, due to him being a functioning alcoholic, still, I've asked his co-workers in engineering and local pub-owners to limit how much he drinks, to keep medications to ease hangovers on hand, and to slap him sober if necessary. He always keeps his modified Plasma-Cutter/gun nearby. (Dr. E. Hampton)  
_-_

Inside the file as well was dozens of sketches, some of an engineering suit, others of Necromorphs, but most were detailed sketches of her. She looked through all of them. The back most drawing was of her _and_ Isaac, together, not even a sketch, it was a fully polished piece of art. _Isaac drew this?_ Ellie thought to herself. She found it quite touching. But still, _was this really him_? Damn well seemed like it. There was one last thing Ellie needed now. And Dr. Hampton seemed to know exactly what that was, "Would you like me to bring him in?"

Almost on pure gut-instinct, Ellie responded, "Yes, do that."

Dr. Hampton nodded before standing back up, she advised Ellie to stay in her office while she spoke to security about summoning Isaac from his current job. She left the room, leaving Ellie sitting in silence.

After leaving the office, Dr. Hampton proceeded towards the security office to send a summons request to Isaac, who she knew was in engineering. He was either getting wrapped up into supervising what ever stupid disaster-gadget the young-bloods on the engineering crew had cooked up down there. Or he'd be on break, drinking.

Dr. Hampton had arrived at the front desk, sitting behind the desk was a secretary, sitting on the desk was Dr. Hampton's one and-a-half year-old daughter Victoria. Victoria normally stayed by the security desk while her mother worked in the hospital. Upon seeing her mom approach the desk, she flung herself to the floor and greeted her with a hug as big as a child her age could manage. "Hi mom!"

Dr. Hampton greeted the girl briefly before directing her attention to the secretary. "Can you place a request to engineering to send Isaac Clarke up?"

Victoria's face lit up, "Oh, is Mr. Clarke coming up?"

Dr. Hampton sighed, her daughter had a strange fondness for the broken-as-all-hell engineer. Isaac tolerated her well enough when he visited for regular psychiatric appointments. The secretary pressed a button on the communications device, directing a call to the engineering deck. "This is medical secretary Celia Smith to the engineering deck, please respond."

Instead of being greeted with the standard 'we respond, what do you need', they were greeted by a mess of different voices yelling:, "AHHHHH! MY LEGS! Oh shit, call medical! YOU MOTHERFU-!"

The secretary hung up abruptly, wincing, she turned to Dr. Hampton, Victoria was giggling at the sheer incompetence that the younger members of the team had just displayed over the phone, Dr. Hampton had buried her face in her palm and nodded to the secretary, "Place a call to Civil Protection to escort a medical team down there, and send up Isaac while they're at it."

**USG Spirit of Hope Armory: HQ of Ship-Wide Civil Protection Force:  
**  
Beyond the shadow of a doubt, the last three months of living on a ship as a Civil a Protection officer had been interesting for the former EarthGov solider John Carver. Mostly on the grounds that his job was to make sure no one else phenomenally screwed up. There were plenty that had tried. Between the young-bloods in engineering nearly causing ship-wide catastrophe without supervision of a senior engineer, that elusive thief in the marketplace, and frequent scouting missions having the potential to bring something dangerous on board, life was never boring, and business for Civil Protection was booming.

Carver, at the moment, was enjoying a game of cards with his fellow officers when the Chief of Operations entered and alerted them of the situation in engineering. Carver, along with several others audibly groaned, injuries in engineering weren't uncommon, but young-blood engineers doing something stupid, boarding on criminally negligent was becoming a tedious chore. They could only tell them off so many times before their superiors just allowed Civil Protection to arrest them.

The team sent to engineering comprised of Carver, and three other military veterans. Civil Protection was made up mostly of veterans, people who had been trained to fight the hard fights, and defend the peace. Today, keeping the peace entailed making sure the young-blood engineers didn't tear a hole in the side of the ship, again. Before they left, the Chief of Operations informed Carver to tell his 'old buddy' Isaac Clarke that he's wanted in medical. Carver sighed and acknowledged the request.

His team stepped over to a store, which also conveniently doubled as suit storage. Each taking turns, they stepped in to equip their gear, they each had a military suit, with white armor plates, and specialized rig. Once they stepped out, they let their helmets extend over their heads, picked up a small firearm, and went to meet the medical team at the tram station.

They took the tram to engineering, and everything went as expected. Medics hauled the sorry-ass young-blood who lost his legs to the medical deck, Civil Protection scolded the rest. Carver didn't care, he merely thought, _Same shit, different day_. While that unfolded, he went to find Isaac, and bring him to medical.

It took him a few minutes, as the engineering decks of Planet Crackers tended to be quasi-equal to a labyrinth in design. Eventually he found Isaac on the other side of the deck, masked by loud mechanical noises. He was half-way beneath a massive industrial motor, Carver could hear the sound of a wench turning. Letting his helmet fold back into his rig, Carver casually knocked on the motor, the wench stopped turning.

Isaac was repairing a motor that was sent to engineering some time ago when he heard a knock on the motor. He stopped tightening the bolt and turned his head. He almost felt a heart attack when he saw the boots of a military suit. He paused for a second before saying, "Shit, did I go over my drinking limit again?"

He heard a familiar laugh, then the familiar voice of his friend John Carver called out, "Naw, you're just wanted in medical, dead boy."

Isaac winced, he _hated_ that nickname. Carver found it funny, and Isaac didn't. He rolled out from under the motor. He looked up at Carver, looking down at him with a smirk on his face. Isaac gave him an irritated frown, before scowling and standing up, giving Carver another glare. He sighed, "Alright, I'll bite, what do they need me for?"

"Don't know, don't care," Carver stated, "man, it's probably just for another round of anti-dementia meds."

"Yeah... probably, whatever," Isaac groaned.

Of the two of them, it was abrasively clear who'd taken the events of the last six months worse, it could be seen just by looking at them. Carver looked like he hadn't changed any since Tau Volantis, his hair was still black and short, his skin was still tanned, and his facial complexion was still marked by a long scar going down from under his left eye, down to his chin. The only notably different thing about him was that he let the stubble on his face grow into a 1/3 inch beard.

Isaac on the other hand, had several noticeable changes, such as his slouch becoming more noticeable, (granted this was only the case when he was drunk, which he had been for a solid month), and there were a set of perpetual bags under his eyes that would never go away (likely caused by nightmare induced insomnia). His once black hair was noticeably more grey (though it was a dark shade of grey). When he spoke, he sounded like he had no real reason to even exist. In truth, he felt like he shouldn't have survived this long, and it especially didn't help that he'd lost everything he had ever cared for.

Fate was funny in the way that he did have one thing left, he just didn't know he had it. Yet.

The tram ride back was slow for Isaac, after all the horrific things he'd been through, adjusting to anything somewhat resembling a normal life was just impossible. Carver and Isaac got off at the medical deck, and made their way through the commotion of the main room, largely made up of the young-blood who lost his legs getting rushed to the operating theater. They came to the front desk and were greeted by Dr. Elizabeth Hampton and her daughter, Victoria. With Victoria being the first to speak up, "Hi Mr. Clarke, Hi Mr. Carver!" she called waving.

"Hey kid," Isaac nodded back.

Carver nodded, turning to Dr. Hampton, "If you'll excuse me, I was beating chad at a came of poker," he walked off, leaving Isaac with the good doctor.

Isaac sighed, "Did I go over my drinking limit again? I asked , but Carver didn't say."

Dr. Hampton chuckled, "No," she paused to take a small breath, "but I did find someone you need to see."

It was Isaac's turn to pause. "Sorry, what?"

"Follow me."

Isaac followed the good doctor to her office, skeptical of who might be there. He felt like his heart had stopped when he saw who it was, all thoughts that had flooded his mind drained in a nanosecond. Dr. Hampton had moved to the corner of the office.

Before him stood a woman with shoulder-length brown hair tied into a bun, a blue left eye, a green right eye that replaced her original eye, and a flabbergasted expression that was equal to his own face. The woman he loved was still alive, and here, on board the _USG Spirit of Hope_.

Stunned, Isaac asked one thing, and only one thing, "Ellie?"

_Author's Notes:_

_So the one thing I wanted time to understand was how Isaac and Carver would be introduced to the story. Ultimately they would both be on the same ship, because reasons, but what I was really trying to piece together was how they've handled it all up to this point. In the end, I chose to have Carver work on a civil protection squad, and Isaac was working as an Engineer. Carver manages to overcome and find something new, while Isaac is once again beaten down. That is, until Ellie arrives._

_Also, you hardcore Dead Space fans are probably wondering how a functioning flotilla of military ships, planet crackers, and stations can exist in a world as fractured as Dead Space. Short version: EarthGov is gone, Unitologists are split, and humanity is scrambling. But don't worry, the setting will change soon._

_Finally. This chapter took a while because I had a hard time with Beta Readers. So I wound up drafting, redrafting, and knit-picking it myself. I hope this is good enough._

_Please, let me know what you guys think!_


	3. Chapter 3: Calm Before the Storm

**_We'll make it to Remnant soon folks. I promise. We just have to get some basic backstory and more Isaac / Ellie reunion fluff, so we're on the same page, their isn't going to be any Isaac X Ellie subplot. It worked in Dead Space 2 really well, but it was really weak in Dead Space 3, I mean seriously, I feel like the writers had Ellie dump Isaac only so the could have Norton be a jackass. I also feel like if you'd been through the same shit both Isaac and Ellie had been through, you'd probably also be incapable of getting back with your Ex too. I also can't quite see how an Isaac/Ellie romance plot could fit in here. Also, new scene breaks! It's Post Extinction written in binary! let us begin..._**

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Both Isaac Clarke and Ellie Langford were stunned silent upon seeing the other still alive. Isaac was tempted to reach out, and gently touch their cheek, just to make sure she was real, Ellie had a similar desire. Keyword, _similar_. Ellie was aware how realistic marker-induced hallucinations were, while her mind remained free of 'Marker-Sickness', she had seen smaller, other hallucinations in the past. Telling the difference between what was real and what wasn't often was the difference between life and death. There was one good way to make sure.

Isaac was internally arguing with himself, entirely unsure what to do. He was pulled from his struggle when Ellie slapped him in the face, hard. Isaac recoiled from the hit, wincing from the pain. Dr. Hampton tensed up. Isaac groaned before saying, "Yeah, I probably deserved that, didn't I?"

"Just checking to make sure you're real," Ellie clarified, shaking her head, she continued, "last time I thought I saw you, it was a hallucination. That night, it was not fun."

Isaac winced rubbed the wound a little more. He had more than enough experience with intensely real hallucinations. He was getting painful, and unwanted flashbacks to the _USG Ishimura.  
_  
He stood up, "And?"

Ellie nodded, "Okay, you're real."

Dr. Hampton let out the breath she was holding in. Isaac and Ellie were an odd couple in her mind.

With the awkward reunion out of the way, Dr. Hampton left Isaac and Ellie to catch up, the first thing that Isaac and Ellie could agree on, was that maybe re-entering a relationship beyond friends was a bad idea. After all, the first time it ended because Isaac couldn't let go of the past, and the second time because he'd fallen from the atmosphere of Tau Volantis. It also didn't help either of them that they'd both had been forced to move on after the apocalypse. At that point, it felt like they couldn't be anything other than friends, lest they tempt the universe to throw more horrors in their general direction. That didn't stop them from being close friends, however. Isaac and Ellie often found themselves bonding over coffee at a small cafe, they swapped horror stories about their travels over the past few months, but Ellie was really curious about one thing: _how the hell did Issac and Carver survive and escape Tau Volantis?_ She asked, and Isaac tried to answer, but alas...

"So what your saying is that, neither you or Carver have any bloody clue how you survived falling from the atmosphere, so much so that you both couldn't figure out if you were dead or alive?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Isaac said.

Ellie scratched her head, there were so many holes in that story, and possibly no conceivable answer to them. It just, happened, and eventually, they found themselves here, on board the _USG Spirit of Hope_. Isaac didn't want to linger on it for too long.

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Two months had passed since Isaac and Ellie reunited, and Ellie joined a scavenger squad in that time. She spoke with Isaac about it, and he was understandably nervous about that choice. Friends or something else, Ellie was the only reason Isaac had too keep going, and Ellie knew it. She'd taken time to help Isaac relax, and assure him she'd be fine.

Her job on the scavenger crew was to find raw material and bring it back to the flotilla. Particularly, the _USG Spirit of Hope_. From there the salvage was sorted out and spread across the fleet, hydroponic parts went to farming ships, scrap metal went to manufacturing stations, and medical equipment stayed on the _USG Spirit of Hope_. Ellie's favorite part of the job, was that fact that every scavenger got to keep _one thing_ from their search. Ellie's favorite thing to collect, was suit schematics. Scavenging missions were frequent, and after two months, Ellie had a sizable collection of different suit schematics in her 'home'.

Ellie occasionally sold weaker schematics at the store fore extra credits, but kept the good ones for herself. She kept them in a box in her 'home', a sizable shuttle with a bedroom, a bathroom, and came equipped with four escape pods. that she kept docked on the hull, with one way in or out to the ship. It cost her a bit, but to her, it was worth the privacy it gave her. After all, she still had a hard time trusting people.

Isaac had continued to busy himself in one way or another, if he wasn't doing repairs on the engineering deck, he was either spending time with Ellie, or creating weapons and tools to sell to scavengers or civil protection. Ellie, Carver, and Hampton had come to his apartment multiple times and had seen his creations. Some were basic, but most were completely absurd. Isaac was prompted to make more absurd weapons, because he could sell them for more.

He'd admit, though, some of these weapons were ridiculous, even by his strange standards. For example, for one order, he had made a standard pulse rifle with a steel-cutting plasma saw on the end, a rivet-shotgun that doubled as a RPG launcher and had a habit of lighting things on fire, and, his personal favorite, the heavy seeker rifle that shot acidic bullets with a retractable hydraulic scythe-blade. Why the hell anybody needed a scythe on an seeker rifle was anyone's guess, it was damn effective, once the wielder managed to get the hang of swinging it without hurting themselves.

Isaac lived in an isolated apartment on the far end of the civilian sector, partially hiding himself from society. Isolation was both a good, and bad thing in his mind. People would only be problematic, if Isaac wanted something done, he did it himself.

The first three months on the _Spirit of Hope_ had been rough for him. Especially after the harsh life style from scavenging off of wrecked ships. He couldn't even remember the first month, except for being slapped sober by a coworker or waking up on the medical deck. It got easier to live with both himself and the horrid nightmares after that.

For the second month, Isaac spent most of it wracking his brain for a reason he'd survived that long. He'd practically lived on the medical deck. It has around this time he actually properly met the doctor who'd been working on his case. At first he just kept wondering why Dr. Hampton was even bothering, he'd already lived when he could, and he'd lost everything. He felt more like a shell than an actual man,but, Dr. Hampton was damn good at her job. For the next three weeks, Hampton put her psychiatric skills to good use, and had convinced Isaac to give life on the flotilla a chance. She'd also started to become friends with the unlucky engineer. By the end of the second month, Isaac was living in his semi-isolated apartment, visits to the medical deck for regular psychiatric appointments were still going on.

For the third month, Isaac spent it trying to find some notion of a normal, and stable life. Eventually, he settled into a routine of mindlessly working on the engineering deck until the other senior engineers started playing a round of blackjack, than heading out and either going home to work on projects, or going to the medical deck if he had a scheduled appointment.

If Isaac was being honest with himself, he couldn't even remember what his life was like before he'd been thrown into a world of chaos that involved Markers that turned the dead into unstoppable mutants and drove the living insane, where he was hounded by governments and cults, and where he didn't have to battle moon-sized monsters. Now that he had the stable and normal(ish) life he wanted back, it felt, strange. Like he was living in a distant memory.

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Carver had taken to life on the _USG Spirit of Hope_ relatively easily. While he and Isaac had survived by scavenging, before being taken to the fleet, Isaac gave him some tips on how to handle the hallucinations. Like Isaac, when he came aboard the _USG Spirit of Hope_, he had also slunk back into depression. Unlike Isaac, the medical staff had an easier time pulling him out of it, taking only one month, instead of three.

Once Carver's mental state stabilized, he was offered a position in the Civil Protection Force, he took it. The next two month may have kept him busy, but it was relatively smooth sailing for him. He lived on the main apartment block, and frequently visited Isaac, usually on the orders of his psychiatrist, as Carver was one of the few authority figures on the ship Isaac actually trusted fully.

With all that, when Carver did get any spare time, he often spent it bonding with his fellow soldiers in the Force. Today, he'd been in a friendly argument with his squad over what the best upgrade for the Pulse Rifle was. That was, until they were told an unknown scavenger ship had been given permission to dock in the hanger. They had claimed to possess "vital resources" to the well being of the population of the ship.

And so, John Carver, and a small squad of troops were going down to the hanger to inspect and ensure that, whatever it was that they were bringing on board, that it was safe. Carver and one other stood guard by the hanger door, their orders were to close the door in the event that the others walk into an ambush. The ship in question had landed minutes earlier, and was awaiting the platoon of soldiers before they unloaded.

The troops surrounded the exit airlock to the ship, and, raising their Pulse Rifles, gave the order to open the airlock.

_And were immediately bombarded by high-velocity Seeker Rifle rounds._

Carver and the other guard turned around to see the other soldiers fall dead under the spray of bullets. He turned quickly and smashed the lock-down switch. In seconds, all the blast doors leading out of the hanger slammed shut. Carver opened a secured channel on his RIG to communicate with HQ. "Sir, we got bandits in the hanger, I repeat, we got..."

"Carver, you might wanna take a look at this."

Carver, turned to his fellow soldier, who was looking through a blast window into the hanger. He looked through the glass, and his heart stopped. The bandits, weren't actually bandits. They didn't come to steal resources, or to take control of the ship. They were Unitologists, and they were unloading the most dangerous object known to man, a Red Marker, into the hanger.

Carver opened up another channel to the central hanger control tower, which had a full view of the hanger. Once Carver had open communication with the operators, he practically roared one order, "VENT THE FUCKING HANGER INTO SPACE! NOW!"

The tower controllers were scrambling to do just that. They started the moment the marker became visible. Their task was made more difficult by the fact that the Unitologists were firing at them with seeker rifles. The window into the bay had all but disappeared under the constant gunfire. It silenced for a second, but the controllers stayed down, attempting to feel their way across the controls. Until one built up the courage to stand up and look down. Their heart sank as they said, "Uh, guys?"

The others stood up and saw what their comrade was seeing. The Seeker Rifles had been put down, and in their place, the Unitologists were pointing _rocket launchers_ at the booth. Everyone froze in place right as the rockets came flying at them. The last thing they all felt was the intensity as the explosive projectiles destroyed their workplace, and them along with it.

Carver witnessed the whole ordeal, powerless to stop it, and to stop the Marker. Every ship in the fleet had been given technology to block a Marker signal from the outside, but if a Marker was on board, containment was an absolute nightmare. Through the window, he could see the Unitologists release infector Necromorphs onto both the bodies of the soldiers and themselves. Carver re-opened the channel back to HQ, and as he and the other soldier ran as fast as they could for the tram, he practically screamed the situation through his RIG.

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Isaac and Ellie were sitting at a table outside a cafe, bonding over some coffee when the deck's alarm lights and klaxons went off. The two stood up in confusion, looking around to see that the rest of the deck had gone still. A voice came over the loud speaker. "_Attention all inhabitants of the USG Spirit of Hope, this is the captain speaking. A Red Marker has been brought on board the ship, and as such, I am declaring an abandon ship while the treat is contained. All able-bodied men and women arm themselves and quickly evacuate toward hanger bay three._"

The two looked at each other in horror. And then, all hell broke loose on board the _USG Spirit of Hope_.

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**_I'M NOT DEAD! OR UN-DEAD! And this fic is not abandoned. I've just gotta work on improving my work ethic. The good news is that now since I've finished school for the time being, I've got the time to put effort into my ongoing projects. This fic, A RWBYxMass Effect crossover comic on _**_**DeviantArt**_**_, and Adventure Extraordinaires, also on _**_**DeviantArt, as well as a draft for a novel I intend to publish in the future. If you wish to check either of those out, the RWBYxMass Effect comic is called Destiny's **_**_Ascension, and my DeviantArt name is EmeraldArtist95  
For those of you who can't wait for "team Dead Space" to get to remnant and battle Grimm and Necromorphs, don't worry, I'll isekai them to Remnant next chapter. And unlike some other fics, I'll actually have a reason for it as opposed to saying, "They ded lol, enjoy being on a different planet and inexplicably alive!"  
That would be un-enjoyable and stupid._**


	4. Chapter 4: Outbreak

**Chapter 4. Time to get the REAL plot started, with a Necromorph outbreak. Next Chapter we head back to Remnant. This Chapter, Necromorphs, guns, space suits, a look into how team Dead Space battles monsters in this fic, and explosions. What could go wrong? Lots...**

-01010000 01101111 01110011 01110100 00100000 01000101 01111000 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110- The civilian deck of the _USG Spirit of Hope_ had gone to hell. Gunshots, plasma bolts, roaring saws, and screams of both living and dead filled Isaac and Ellie's ears as the two dismembered the oncoming Necromorph horde with their Plasma Cutters. Slasher Necromorphs were spewing endlessly from the vents. followed by Leapers, Lurkers, and a few Pukers. Those who weren't running had picked up all manner of weapons, looking around, Isaac could see Pulse Rifles, Line Guns, Contact Beams, Rivet Guns, and even a few weapons he'd personally crafted. Yet, even with the combined power of a few dozen humans with all manner of weapons, it still wasn't enough to quell the horde.

Isaac could feel Ellie tug at his shoulder, "Come on, Isaac! Were not gonna last out here!"

Isaac took one last look at the deck to see a few poor souls getting butchered by Slashers. He winced at the screams before turning and retreating with Ellie. The two survivors raced to the tram station, Necromorphs barreling after them. They arrived at their destination just in time to board a tram. The door closed, and all the occupants tensed up as the Necromorphs clawed at the door as the tram left. Ellie took a look at who was also on board the tram, heading to a "safe" area to be evacuated. Mostly small families.

The tram was pretty full, so Isaac and Ellie just simply stood up, holding onto a bar, crossing their fingers that it would be smooth sailing. An announcement came over the tram loud speakers, "_Caution: Obstruction detected on the tracks. Arriving at the closest convenient destination. Welcome to the Cargo Hold."_

Shit. They needed to get to the Flight Deck, Ellie had parked her shuttle there for some repair, maybe they could cut across to a secondary tram to get there.

Isaac and Ellie were the first to get off once the tram stopped, blasting through the few slashers that greeted them. The other humans got off after them. The couple had proceed into the Cargo Hold, in the hopes of finding the secondary tram station. They were starting to see the effects of the outbreak through the blood stains on the walls.

Approaching the end of a hallway, their attention was pulled by a sudden crash at the end of the hall, they raised their Plasma Cutters, the laser sights on the corner. "DON'T SHOOT, DON'T SHOOT! I HAVE MY DAUGHTER WITH ME! DON'T SHOOT!"

Isaac and Ellie lowered their weapons as Dr. Elizabeth Hampton ran into the hallway, little Victoria Hampton crying in her arms. It seems they too were swept up in the panic and attempts to flee the _Spirit of Hope_. There was another crash that came from the hallway the mother and child had run from, followed by the distinct roar of the Necromorphs. Isaac's eye widened as he cried, "Oh shit, GET DOWN!"

Elizabeth ducked to the floor, wrapping her arms tighter around her daughter, as if that would drown out the sounds of death around them. Isaac and Ellie once again raised their Plasma Cutters, just as three slashers and one lurker came around the corner. They wasted no time dispatching the monsters. In seconds, all of the Necromorphs were dismembered and dead.

Elizabeth waited a few second after the noises stopped before getting up, Victoria crying softly into her shoulder. She looked at Isaac and Ellie, muttering a single phrase. "Please, help us. We can't make it on are own."

Isaac and Ellie exchanged glances, they both knew they couldn't just leave them, regardless of whether or not they were friends. They looked back, Isaac nodded, "Alright, stay between me and Ellie."

Isaac proceeded forward, Elizabeth behind him, and Ellie watching their backs for Necromorphs. All had gone quiet. No surprise there, Necromorphs could be quiet if they wanted to. The group continued through the corridors, until something caught Isaac's attention, he stopped, "Isaac, why'd we stop?"

They all looked in the same direction, and saw what he saw.

A store, which meant supplies, and a suit kiosk. Isaac lowered his Plasma Cutter, and moved over to the machine. He tapped a button on the screen, an automated voice called out, "_Welcome, Isaac Clarke. Restoring CEC engineer load-out."_

The suit Kiosk opened up, and Isaac stepped inside, it closed and the remaining group could see a bright light through the crack in the door. It opened back up to reveal Isaac had equipped an Engineering Suit, comprised of brown and grey heavy-duty fabric, his torso and right upper-arm lined with rib-like copper plates. His left forearm had a gauntlet equipped. Isaac rolled his shoulders a little, adjusting to the suit. He looked to Ellie, "Get a suit, I'll cover you," he moved past the group as his helmet unfolded out of his rig and around his head, it was rounded, with three glowing blue horizontal visor slits on the front with four plates along the front side..

A holographic display of a weapon wheel appeared in front of him, it had four spaces, and three had weapons in them. He selected the one that showed his Plasma Cutter, and the weapon appeared in his right hand, raising it he inwardly smirked. _Thank God for trans-dimensional storage on these suits, otherwise I wouldn't have made it this far_. Ellie walked up to the store next. She had a suit ready in the event this would happen. She selected her suit and stepped into the kiosk. Step in, door closed, lights flashed, and Ellie then stepped out wearing a Riot Security Suit.

Ellie's suit had more traditional style combat armor plates attached to it, she had gauntlets on both arms, and extra plating on both upper-arms. Though the left one read POLICE, the majority of the suit was black, though some of the paint was peeling along the edges of the metal parts. Ellie let the helmet extend over her head, it was more triangular, yet still a little rounded, with two visor slits, instead of three. Like Isaac, she had three weapons in her weapon wheel.

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The group once again continued on. They rounded a corner and could hear roars, screams, and gunshots, the quickly approached the source of the noise and saw three Civil Protection troopers, armed with a Pulse Rifles, and protected by Red and Black Special Forces Suits, defending the small group of civilians from the tram from a small horde of Necromorphs. Ellie looked at Isaac, Isaac shrugged. He turned to Elizabeth and her daughter, motioning for them to stay close. They raised their Plasma Cutters, and joined the fray.

The next two minutes were absolute chaos. Isaac was immediately rushed by two Slashers, he blasted one in the arm, chopping it off, rolling to the side to dodge an oncoming strike from the second Slasher. Using Kenesis, he picked up the blade of the first Slasher's severed arm, and launched it at the second one, impaling it to the wall, killing it in the process. He jumped back to dodge another strike from the first one, shooting it in the leg, causing it to trip up. He finished it off with a curb-stomp to the head.

Ellie was jumped by two Slashers and a Lurker, she strafed back, dodging strikes from all three. She froze the slashers with Stasis, just as the Lurker jumped at her. She quickly snatched it with both hands as it wrapped two tentacles around her arms, attempting to stab her with the third. The barbed third appendage glanced harmlessly off her armor for two strikes before Ellie managed to pry it off her. She turned to see her Stasis had worn off, and the Slashers were beginning to rush her again. She dropped the still squirming Lurker and kicked it hard at the Slashers. The Lurker went flying into the Slashers hard enough to stun one to the floor, and daze the other. Ellie took full advantage, punching the dazed one hard enough in the face to knock it to the floor. She finished both off with a series of curb stomps.

She heard a loud labored gasp from behind her, on pure instinct she rolled to the left in time to dodge a gob of acidic bile. She used Kenesis to grab a blade off a dead Slasher, it found its mark in the Puker's chest, while that didn't kill it instantly, it was enough time for Isaac to sneak up on it. Isaac planted his left arm between the Puker's shoulders, and his right hand to grab it's skull, with a single hard pull of his right arm and push from his left, Isaac decapitated the Puker. It stumbled forward and Ellie finished it off with a point-blank round from the Plasma Cutter.

A Leaper managed to pin Isaac to the floor, but before it could sink its teeth in, Ellie pushed it off, backing up before it could attack her. Isaac stood up and grabbed the Leaper's tail. He pulled it up, and pinned its head to the floor with his boot. With the Necromorph pinned, Isaac lifted his foot, and curb-stomped its head, decapitating it, then casting it aside. Both he and Ellie finished it off with a few Plasma Cutter shots.

A Slasher with molded and dark skin, an enhanced, rushed Ellie, with the intend to take a chance at slashing her. Instead of using Stasis, or rolling out of the way, Ellie ducked under the strike, wrapping her arms around the Enhanced Slasher. Before the Necromorph knew what was happening, Ellie jumped up, and flipped the Slasher over her. It landed flat on its back, and Isaac followed up by stomping on it's head. The headless Slasher got up, but before it could begin swinging wildly, Ellie shoved it into a spot away from the people. She rolled back as Isaac fired a single plasma bolt, severing a cable suspending a turbine. It fell, and the battle ended with the last Necromorph getting crushed to death.

Isaac, Ellie, Elizabeth, and the soldiers looked at each other. The taller soldier spoke up, "Isaac, That you in there?"

The soldier's helmet unfolded to reveal the face of John Carver. Isaac's helmet unfolded back into his RIG. "Carver, you good?"

"As good as I can get. Fucking Necromorphs," he muttered.

"Figures," Isaac muttered, "you heading for the tram station?"

"Yes."

"Mind if we follow?"

"Be my guest."

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The two groups merged, and continued into a large room with two points of entry separated by a large drop. The two points were connected by a single means of getting across, a medium-sized hanging gantry attached to a set of tracks on the ceiling, adding to the already creepy atmosphere of the room was the fact nobody could see the other end of the track, floor, or ceiling, it was too dark. Anybody who had acrophobia, (namely one Dr. Elizabeth Hampton), felt a large pit appear in their stomachs as the dread sank in.

Isaac, Ellie, Carver, and the extra soldier exchanged glances, Carver turned to his fellow soldier, "Private Carmine, Lieutenant Guyles we need to take these people across, call the gantry."

The solider identified as Private Carmine hit a button on the control panel that summoned the gantry. The room was deathly silent, the only audible things in it was the approaching gantry and the slightly panicked breathing of the civilians. Carver and Ellie kept an eye out behind them, while Isaac peered down the pit, he turned on his Plasma Cutter, pointing it towards the ground, hoping the attached light would reveal the bottom. It didn't, which only served to raise some red flags.

It was too silent, that was the problem. Too silent, and they were over a vary large, very _ominous_ pit. There was basically no way something would go wrong now. Ellie and Carver had noticed Isaac, and had moved over to him. Ellie asked, "Something wrong?"

Isaac turned to them. The gantry had just arrived. "I think something's down there."

All heads collectively turned to Isaac. Elizabeth sputtered out, "A-a-are you sure? We can't go across there i-if somethings down there!"

The tension in the room spiked. Carver moved over to him and looked down. Like Isaac, he too had spend too much time scavenging large vessels too not realize the potential for a trap when he saw one, and given the depth of the pit they were looming over, chances are, there would be tentacles waiting to ambush them. He drew his Pulse Rifle, checking it's ammo. He pointed it at several points across the floor, and pulled the secondary trigger multiple times. Several grenades fired into the darkness, followed by several loud yet distant bangs. Unexpectedly, the lower floor lit on fire, revealing that it was covered in corruption, but no tentacles.

Everybody looked down. Okay, nothing was down there that could reach them up here. But, now the floor was on fire, and they still had to cross. and the fire's light wasn't enough to illuminate the other side of the track, or ceiling. Now, instead of crossing with the threat of getting snatched by a tentacle, they had to cross with the notion of falling to a fiery death, with the notion that there might also be Necromorphs on the other side.

Just. Fucking. _Fantastic_.

Carmine and Guyles stepped onto the platform, ushering others onto it. Eventually, they managed to fit all but Carver, Isaac, Ellie, Elizabeth, and Victoria Hampton. "Take them across, then send it back," Carver instructed, "we'll be fine."

Carmine nodded, and pushed the button, he turned around and raised his Pule Rifle. Ready for anything.

Ready for anything, except the few Necromorphs stuck on the ceiling, covered in darkness. What looked to be a mouth on the end of a tentacle shot down, grabbing Carmine, and pulled him up. All the civilians screamed and ducked, covering their heads, Guyles yelled, "FLYTRAPS!".

"Oh shit, CARMINE!" Carver yelled.

The trio raised their weapons to the ceiling as the platform slipped into darkness. What they found on the ceiling, they'd admit that they had never seen it before. The mutation was of a human hanging from the ceiling by its melted hands and feet. Its chest was split open, with its ribs turned to sharpened teeth. Its flesh hanging loosely by its sides, and its muscles moving the ribs like a gaping maw. It looked like a twisted mockery of a Venus flytrap. _Guess that's why they called them 'flytraps'_.

A few had managed to snatch up a few people off the gantry, and were chewing on them. Issac fired his Plasma Cutter at the limbs of the one eating Carmine, he heard Carver cry "Isaac wait!"

Too late. The Flytrap's arms fell, Carmine's dead body dropped into the fire below. Its legs snapped and it fell too. They heard the sound of the gantry returning__

oh boy, getting across with these things on the ceiling was going to be bad. They waited for the gantry to return.

_One second._

_Two seconds._

_Ten seconds._

_A loud crack._

_One minute._

_Oh, shit._

This was the collective thought of the group when the platform returned coated in blood and dangling by one connector. No way they were getting across on that now. They needed a new way. Guyles opened a video link with Carver's RIG. "Sir," he stated, "I sent the gantry back, but I heard something break once it left visual range. Is everything alright over there?"

Carver groaned, "No, the damn gantry broke down, it's literally dangling by a thread! Go onward to the tram station, I'll take the remaining civilians around. Meet you in the EVAC hanger."

"Yes sir," Guyles saluted before cutting the call, Carver turned to Isaac.

"I've never actually been down here, Isaac, you got any idea where we're going?"

Isaac nodded, "I've been down here to inspect scavenged engine parts, follow me," Isaac started back towards a secondary exit to the cargo hold they were in, ready to take the long way around.

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The group continued through the narrow corridors, with Elizabeth and her daughter standing in the center of a triangular formation lead by Isaac, with Ellie and Carver watching out behind them. They entered a series of rooms that had been re-purposed to function as extra laboratories to fabricate various parts for all purposes around the ship, doubling as both blacksmithing and manufacturing. The equipment included in these facilities ranged from furnaces and anvils for metal-working, to large hydraulic presses for creating sheet metal, and precision-robots and computers to create micro-chips and semiconductors. Some of which the operators had left on, All of which was painted with the intestines and blood of the Necromorphs' victims.

They had made it to the center of the room when the alarm went off. _Warning: Pathogenic presence at unsafe levels. Quarantine engaged_. Lights flashed as Elizabeth once again held onto her daughter Victoria and ducked under a table. The trio looked around, there was a hydraulic press, furnace, and industrial metal-cutting saw still active.

Several slashers and an Exploder, a Necromorph which had a large sac of explosive pus on its left arm, as well as one arm and leg to move around, and a split skull emerged from vents by the furnace. Isaac fired a single Plasma Cutter round at the Exploder's sac, the sudden rupture detonated the chemicals inside, destroying the Necromorph, and the furnace behind it. The slashers that weren't taken out by the blast were then lit on fire. Isaac easily finished them off.

Ellie swapped he Plasma Cutter for the second gun on her weapon wheel, Seeker Rifle. She aimed it at a Puker that stood in front of the active hydraulic press which was rapidly slamming up and down, which in turn was surrounded by more slashers. She fired a single shot at the Puker, the blast didn't kill it, but it did knock it into the open press. The press slammed down on it, spewing acidic bile onto the Slashers, some of which fell apart in seconds, and others needed a few more shots.

Carver found himself surrounded by Necromorphs. He had also swapped weapons, he'd swapped the Pulse Rifle for a Contact Beam pointed the weapon at the ground and pulled the secondary trigger. The contact energy radiated through the floor, causing a shock wave that knocked the surrounding Slashers to the ground. He quickly pulled an Incendiary Grenade from his belt, activating it and strafing away from the spot on the floor he put it. It detonated, killing two Slashers and lighting the remaining ones on fire.

The quarantine lifted when the last Necromorph fell. The entire metal shop had been painted with viscera and blood. The group wasted no time in leaving. They knew more would soon follow. They entered into offices of the individuals who were in charge of taking inventory and general management of the Cargo Hold. The room was elongated and narrow, an massive window looking into the icy blackness of space at the tail end of it.

The group entered the room, collectively crossing their fingers that no Necromorphs would appear. They made it half-way across the room before they heard the faint crackling of glass. Isaac looked forward and saw that there was a Leaper on the outside of the glass, pounding it with its tail. Isaac froze, and yelled, "Jump back and grab onto something! The window's going to...!"

_CRASH!_

The window suddenly broke and the vacuum began to suck things into the void. Ellie, Isaac, and Carver dived to the sides, grabbing whatever was anchored to the ground. Elizabeth had attempted to grab something, but the task was made difficult by the fact she was holding her young child in one arm. Victoria was crying loudly, Elizabeth instinctively knew her child was more afraid now then she would ever be over the course of her life. She had one arm wrapped around a pole, looking around she could see Isaac below her, clinging to a desk. Carver was next to her, looking as if he was seconds away from floating away. Ellie was above her, she'd managed to get some footing on an anchored desk with one hand on a safety bar, the other attempting to shoot the red triangular sign above the broken window with her Plasma Cutter in order to trigger the safety bulkhead, however, all her shots were obstructed by all the junk flying up from behind them.

The good doctor's grip was weakening fast, she needed to find something to grab onto in a few seconds. And just as she noticed something else to hold, her hand slipped. Flailing out, Elizabeth managed to grab a pole that was just beneath the desk she was previously holding. She looked to her side and noticed Isaac directly next to her. Isaac had managed to find some footing as well, and to was taking shots at the manual release for the safety door. The two suddenly heard a loud crack, and looking up, the desk Elizabeth had been holding had come loose, and was about to fall onto her and Victoria. She looked over to Isaac, debating options, her brain moving at the speed of a derailing freight train. The desk was seconds away from falling, and she acted on pure instinct.

She turned to Isaac, and simply said, "Make sure she gets off this hell-hole ship alive."

Before Isaac could process Dr. Hampton's words, she shoved little Victoria into his free arm. Isaac on similar instinct held onto the small child against the depressurizing room. And into the same instance Elizabeth let her child go, the desk hit her, and floated out into space, taking the good doctor with it. Elizabeth managed to share one last look with her daughter looking into Victoria's eyes, her little hand reaching out towards her. Elizabeth simply smiled, in an attempt to console her daughter, one final time.

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**Oh no...**  
**Cliffhanger!**  
**Plz don't hate me. I had to proof read myself.**  
**Feel Free to review criticize and ask questions. I'll try and answer a few next chapter.**


	5. NOT A CHAPTER, PLEASE READ

**So, As far as Post Extinction goes, I'm at a split in the road. I've been drafting Chapter 5 between working on my Adventure Extraordinaires reboot and Destiny's Ascension on Deviantart. Don't get me wrong, I'm not stopping, I'm not going to to give up on any of my major projects, I have stories to tell, and come hell or high water, I will tell them. But getting back on track, reading the previous chapters, I've begun to question whether or not I've done this story correctly.**

**Allow me to explain.**

**The chapters are short, no surprise there, I've found my writing style is focused on short, but detailed chapters that allow the reader to quickly understand the characters, and follow them on their adventures. But for a series like Dead Space, which was memorale for its grotesque body horror and it's ability to make the player question reality, this style doesn't work. More importantly, we already know these characters, we've all played Dead Space, or watched RWBY, we know what makes them tick. The goal in this case should be to bring something new to them, as well as put them through fights that none of them could've prepared for. Which, ironically, is present in this fic, but it isn't touched on until chapter 5, which is in it's drafting phase. Any self respecting creative writer knows that you can't wait this long before starting the main plot.**

**Segwaying into the next issue I've found, is pacing. It's been 4 published chapters, and I've yet to either get team Dead Space to Remnant, or introduce the antagonists, (discounting Necromorphs and Salem). I've fallen for several cardinal sins of creative writing, I haven't set any lasting stakes, I haven't introduced the villain(s), I haven't properly built up the relationship between the (new) characters, And I've wasted too much time before moving the actual plot forward.**

**To put it bluntly, I feel like I've wrecked this fic's world-building before it began.**

**So, from here, there's two options.**

**Option 1: Wipe the slate clean and start again, with longer chapters and more plot this time.**

**Option 2: Continue this continuity, and try to salvage what I've already done.**

**Personally, I'd prefer to go with option 1 and just try again. But, I want to here your guy's opinion first.**

**So, Reboot? Or Continue?**

**Please, let me know.**


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